Eric was born on December 6, 1958, in Choisy-le-Roi, France, a suburb of Paris beribboned by the Seine. Cities would beckon to him all his life, and at the age of 18 he moved to Paris, where he became a mechanical draftsman at the Dassault, the French aviation company.   Eventually, he also became the beau of an American in Paris named Mary Ann Racin, and when she returned home to New York City a year later he flew there to be with her. He and Mary Ann lived in a top-floor apartment beneath the eaves of a church on West 57th Street. Once a week, Eric would cook dinner for the denizens of a small homeless shelter, a volunteer responsibility he felt profoundly.  

At the age of 40, Eric embarked on a new career, in a foreign language, in a new town–Lynchburg, Virginia. He became a mechanical engineer, a challenge he loved. To friends who visited him at his office he would show the sleek, impeccable nuclear components he had helped to design.  

In March 2012, Eric was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Unfortunately, the disease had progressed too far to be treated, and he passed away April 29, 2012.